On the night of 4 September, the Russian cities of Sochi and Adler, as well as the federal territory of Sirius, came under a massive drone attack. The Russian authorities have officially confirmed a fire at an oil depot. According to monitoring sources and OSINT analysis, another strike may have targeted the positions of a Russian air defence division equipped with S-300 or S-400 systems near Sirius. The extent of the damage to the military facility is currently being assessed.
Briefly about the main points
- On the night of 4 September, Sochi and Sirius were attacked by drones.
- The Russian authorities have confirmed a fire at the oil depot.
- Initial reports suggest that the «Rosneft-Kubannefteprodukt» oil depot in Adler was hit.
- The facility can store over 31,000 cubic metres of petroleum products.
A series of explosions rocked Sochi and Adler
The first reports of explosions began to come in late in the evening of 3 September and after midnight on 4 September.
Local residents reported Russian air defence activity, drones flying overhead and a series of powerful explosions in Sochi, Adler and the Sirius federal territory.
Footage posted online showed large plumes of smoke following one of the explosions. The Russian Operational Headquarters for the Krasnodar Krai subsequently officially acknowledged that as a result of the attack A fire broke out on the premises of the oil depot.
There were also reports of windows being smashed in several buildings and localised fires. According to preliminary information from the Russian side, no one was injured.
It is reported that a Rosneft oil depot has been attacked«
According to «Glavkom» and the monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+, the likely target was The «Rosneft-Kubannefteprodukt» oil depot in Adler».
It is situated on Aviatsionnaya Street, not far from Sochi Airport, and is used for the storage and transhipment of fuel.
According to publicly available information, the company’s tank farm consists of 41 tanks with a total capacity of approximately 31,200 cubic metres.
The following items are stored at the site:
- AI-92 petrol;
- AI-95;
- AI-98;
- diesel fuel.
The largest storage tanks have a capacity of up to 2,000 cubic metres. Petroleum products are delivered and dispatched by road and rail.
A second fire was reported near the air defence division
Another significant incident during the night-time attack took place in the Sirius federal territory.
According to the Russian independent publication ASTRA, which carried out an OSINT analysis of the videos that had been made public, one of the sources of the fire was successfully geolocated near the positions of a Russian air defence division.
According to publicly available information, the following systems may be deployed at this location S-300 or S-400.
Monitoring sources reported that a fire broke out near a military facility following a second powerful explosion.
At the same time, there is no precise information on whether, which elements of the battalion were damaged, and whether the launcher, radar or other equipment had been destroyed, are not yet available. Therefore, information regarding the destruction of the air defence division in particular is currently based on OSINT geolocation data and reports from monitoring channels.
Sochi Airport suspended operations
Due to the threat posed by drones, Rosaviatsiya introduced temporary measures at 21:30 on 3 September restrictions on receiving and sending aircraft at Sochi Airport.
The airport has been closed for flight safety reasons.
The attack therefore affected an area where the following are located a short distance from one another: a large oil depot, an international airport and Russian air defence positions.
The oil depot in Adler had already been attacked previously
This is not the first attack on this fuel facility.
In August 2025, following a drone strike on the Adler oil depot, a 2,000-cubic-metre storage tank caught fire. The fire subsequently spread to another tank.
At that time, the fire covered an area of 362 square metres, and more than 120 people were involved in bringing it under control.
The night-time attack on 4 September was yet another blow to the fuel and military infrastructure of the Krasnodar Krai. The Russian authorities have already confirmed a fire at the oil depot, whilst the consequences of the possible destruction of the air defence division are still being assessed.
